Mc-Not-Again: McNaughton Trail Run weekend

This weekend I spent some time at the McNaughton Trail Runs. Our local paper had an article on it.

More photos available here.

To complete a marathon, runners must traverse 26 miles, battle mental and physical fatigue and sometimes extreme weather conditions, and probably be in the best shape of their lives.

Are you exhausted yet?

No?

Then try running two marathons, or three, four and five, nonstop.

Now add freezing temperatures, blustery winds and a course full of mud, fallen tree branches and whatever else Mother Nature can conjure up.

This is the life Andy Weinberg and his friends lead, and it’s been on display since Friday and concludes tonight at the McNaughton Park Trail Runs in Pekin, as 250 runners cover distances of 50, 100 and 150 miles.

“It’s fun to watch it all unfold,” said Weinberg, who has been the race director of this event since its inception six years ago when just 11 people took part in the run. “There’s a lot of peaks and valleys (mentally). These guys can be sky high one minute and as low as you can be the next.

“One time I remember a guy took his shoes off after the race and all 10 of his toenails fell off.”

Weinberg, 36, began participating in these ultra-marathons 10 years ago before a back injury kept him from running as much as he wanted.

He became addicted to it quickly, traveling all over the country just to run. [...]

Weinberg takes pleasure in the many walks of life that turn up at these events.

Some of the 250 that took to McNaughton Park were doctors, professors, police officers, teenagers, retirees and even a recovering heroin addict who uses running to overcome his disease.

“He got off drugs, and now he’s addicted to running,” Weinberg said of the acquaintance from Colorado. “One day a friend took him running, and now he gets up every morning and runs 10 miles every day.

“It’s given him his life back. Running is how he gets his fix.”

And in the middle of this three days of running madness, which must seem ridiculous if not crazy to some, is Weinberg and a host of volunteers.

They’re serving food and trying to keeping runners warm with coffee and hot tea.

Maybe most important of all, they’re a support system for a small contingent of athletes who find some kind of pleasure in torturing their bodies.

“It’s a pretty crazy event,” Weinberg said. “We’ve had people have hallucinations and suffer from sleep deprivation. Some of these guys just won’t stop, they’ll run for 48 straight hours with no breaks.

“This small group is a different breed.”

In 2003, I finished the 31 mile event and ended up throwing up afterward. In 2004, I walked the 50 miler and finished in 12:46, and then paced Joe Galloway for his last 10 mile loop. In 2005 I finished the 100 mile in 34:16 and swallowed a DNF in 2006 (at mile 50, though I got 20 the next day).

This year, I was too injured to train, so I worked a couple of shifts and then paced Joe Galloway for a couple of 10 mile loops.

The 150 mile event started at 6 pm Friday, though a couple of folks took a noon start. Also, a few of the 100 milers started on Friday.

The early leaders for the 150 took the first loop in the 1:25-1:35 range; way too fast for such a course (which features 13 hills per 10 mile loop). The hills are only of the 80 foot variety, but there are lots of them packed into small segments.

I worked at Dave Tapp’s lap counting station from 6 pm to 6 am the next day. It was interesting to watch the race unfold; the leaders began to slow. There was some mud on the course, and it was cold (30′s F, or 2-3 C).

But early in the morning, it rained which turned the course into a mudbath. Tons of mud and super slippery hills and drop-offs. But I was home napping through all of this.

I got back at 2 pm to help out again, and there I paced Joe Galloway for a couple of his loops (Joe had started the 100 at 6 pm). We exchanged stories and things like that. He encoundered huge mud baths at several paces along the course (low spots); the rest of the course) packed mud gave good enough traction, but really took a toll on the legs.

Joes loops were 3:47 and 4:30; the latter loop included Joe taking 20 minutes worth of naps! It was in the darkness.

Afterwards, I dressed in warmer clothes and resumed my lap counting duties (from midnight until about 6:30 am) and then went home and went to bed.

I noticed that the ultra runners were really slowing; common loop times ranged from 3:00 to 4:30, especially during the evening hours. Very few people were getting sub 3 hour loops and those were those leading everyone else.

In short, on this course, everyone slows down, especially if it is muddy!

As for me: the side of the leg (hip) barked early during my loop and then didn’t bother me for the last 18 miles. But, my thighs rebelled; I am not in long distance shape. 20 miles made me sore! That is pathetic.

But that is why we train, I guess. It is NOT all mental.

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